


Renegade

by Evilkitten3



Series: Jelano Weekend [2]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-12 23:25:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5685595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilkitten3/pseuds/Evilkitten3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renegade: noun (archaic); a person who abandons religion; an apostate. (For Jelano weekend, day two); AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Renegade

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I wrote this for the second day of Jelano weekend, "Renegade". I wrote this after watching The Big Short, so I'm not exactly in a cheerful mood. I honestly really hate people sometimes. Anyway, enjoy. Warning: Jellal's family is Jewish here.

It started the day Jellal dropped out of school. No one saw it coming – not Erza, not Wally, not Erik and certainly not Sorano. One day, he just didn't show up, and a few days later, the teacher stopped marking him "absent", offhandedly noting that he would no longer be attending class.

It continued when one of Erik's younger siblings (all of whom had been adopted, including Erik), Wendy, reported that Jellal's younger sister Merudy (who was equally adopted) had stopped attending school as well.

It worsened when Lucy's honorary aunt, Grammi, who taught at a public middle school, discovered Merudy was now in one of her classes. Try as she might, neither Grammi nor her daughter Brandish could quite figure out why Merudy, who loved her private school teachers and friends, would suddenly change to a school she hated and was completely miserable at (though Grammi tried her best to make it work).

It became clear when Gray returned from an apparent sick week to explain what had happened. Ultear, the woman who had adopted both Jellal and Merudy, had been killed in a car accident, leaving 18-year-old Jellal in charge of Merudy.

Ultear had not been rich. Ultear had not believed in accepting charity. Ultear had taken her children (who were far too close to her in age, in all honesty) to synagogue every week and had prayed to the God she had died believing in. Ultear Milkovich had never once lost her faith.

But, walking into the bar where Jellal – illegally – worked, Sorano wondered if he'd ever believed at all. He gave her an empty smile, and told her they didn't serve minors. She'd punched him in the face and reminded him that she was a year older than him anyhow. She didn't order any alcohol – just water – and she left a generous tip, even though she hadn't technically bought anything. Jellal looked like he wanted to protest, but he bit his lip. Beggars couldn't be choosers, after all.

On her twenty-first birthday, Sorano had had her party at the bar, even though she knew most of her friends were too young to attend. It wasn't about the party, and everyone was fully aware of that. Still, Erik and Sawyer and Richard and Laxus and all the others who were allowed to be in a bar came. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but they dealt with it. They all bought drinks – real drinks – and gave too much tip, and Sorano stayed behind in the end.

"Jellal," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I didn't know it was your birthday. I didn't get a present."

"I know," she replied. "There's something else. Lucy told her mom." Jellal looked at her. He knew where this was going, but Sorano continued anyway. "Mrs. Heartfilia says that she's going to be paying Merudy's tuition from now on." The silver-haired woman bit her lip. "She also says she wants you to go back to school."

"Oh," Jellal said. He was quiet for a minute. "I–"

"She says she doesn't want to hear any arguments," Sorano cut him off. "And she also said that you can pay her back when you have the money."

"Didn't someone once say 'neither a borrower nor a lender be'?" Jellal asked.

"Polonius, from Hamlet," the Drama major told him. "He's not part of the Jewish faith; you don't have to listen to him."

"Most of us are bankers, though," Jellal thought out loud. "That's the stereotype, right?" She shrugged.

"Look into it; it'd pay better than this," she gestured around the now-empty bar.

"Still, shouldn't you take advice from Shakespeare, Ms. Drama Queen?" he asked, giving her a tiny smile that totally didn't make her feel butterflies.

"He also said, 'Give thy thoughts no tongue'," Sorano pointed out. "I never listened to that one either." He laughed.

"You're a rebel," he agreed.

"And you're working in a bar on a Friday night," she said, smirking. "Doesn't that make you a blasphemer?"

"Maybe." He said. "Either way, there's no arguing with Ms. Layla."

"Definitely not," Sorano said. "Lucy's just as bad." She didn't have anything else to say, so she turned to leave.

"Thanks," he called after her. She shrugged.

"Thank Mrs. Heartfilia," she replied. "Or Lucy. Whatever. I had nothing to do with it." He watched her walk off, lifting her hand in farewell.

"Nice girl you got there," his boss said. "Don't let go of her, you hear me?"

"It's not like that," Jellal told him. His boss laughed and walked off.

Jellal had never been a very good liar.


End file.
